Advice for a New School Year

Building Your Emotional Resilience

As the school year begins with remote learning for many students and parents; it is a good time for a mental check in. How we face these challenges helps shape who we are in almost every aspect of our life.

If you’re like me, a parent working from home, with children adapting again to online learning instead of in-person instruction, it creates anxiety and concerns.  How we deal with these emotions will either create a healthy balance or knock us down a bit.
More resilient people have the ability to “roll with the punches” and adapt to adversity, while less resilient people have a harder time with stress and life changes.  So, which are you?  Most likely a mix of both.

What can we do help us cope and build our Emotional Resilience?  Here are some Daily Practices that help me balance work, three kids, and family responsibilities:

• Journaling:  I find writing down my feelings or what went on in my day and my responses to it help me better cope for the next day.
• Acceptance: I know we’ve all heard the saying, accept the things you cannot change, have the courage to change the things you can, and have the wisdom to know the difference.
• Self-Care: take care of yourself first.  Make yourself a priority, so you can be there for others.
• Gratitude: Be thankful- find something, even the littlest thing, to be thankful for each day.
• Ask for Help: This is key for me and I remind my children of this often!
• Don’t Isolate: During this time it’s important to take precaution, but you can still find ways to connect without isolation.
• Learn from Your Mistakes: Making mistakes means you’re willing to take risks, the trick is to learn to not make them again!
• Move your Body: This is something I do everyday without fail.
• Find Humor: During times of stress and hardship it’s easy to be negative; find something that makes you smile.

I hope some of these strategies inspire you to strengthen and build your emotional resilience!

Author
Shannon Hazard, Relevé Senior Program Manager, and mom to an 11^th grader, 9^th grader and 7^th grader all beginning school this week!